Émile Henriot (chemist)

Émile Henriot (2 July 1885 – 1 February 1961) was a French chemist notable for being the first to show definitely that potassium and rubidium are naturally radioactive.

Émile Henriot
in 1927 at the Solvay Conference
Born	(1885-07-02)July 2, 1885 Besançon, France
Died	February 1, 1961(1961-02-01) (aged 75) Uccle, Belgium
Citizenship	French
Alma mater	Sorbonne
Known for	First to show definitively that potassium and rubidium are naturally radioactive.
Scientific career
Fields	Chemistry
Doctoral advisor	Marie Curie
Doctoral students	Pol Duwez
Signature

He investigated methods to generate extremely high angular velocities, and found that suitably placed air-jets can be used to spin tops at very high speeds - this technique was later used to construct ultracentrifuges.

He was a pioneer in the study of the electron microscope. He also studied birefringence and molecular vibrations.

He obtained his DSc in physics in 1912 the Sorbonne, Paris, under Marie Curie.

References

• L. Marton (1961). "Obituaries: Prof. E. Henriot". Nature. 190 (4779): 861. Bibcode:1961Natur.190..861M. doi:10.1038/190861a0.
• Biographie Nationale publiée par L’Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Établissements Émile Bruylant: 1866-1986, vol. 12 (suppl.), col 421-423.
• Acad. Roy. Belg. Ann., 1964, 130, pp. 47–59.
• Acad. Roy. Sci. Bull. Cl. Sci., 1961, 47, p. 680.
• Le Radium, 1908, 5, pp. 41–46
• Radioactivity in the Natural Environment, in Guide to the Nuclear Wall Chart, at The ABC's of Nuclear Science by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
• Natural Radioactivity and Radiation at National Library of Medicine